Dead Battery No trunk access key not working in lock
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Joined: Mar 2022
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2001 Mercedes CL600
Dead Battery No trunk access key not working in lock
Wow. The manual is useless for my 2001 Mercedes CL600. The battery has drained and the car will not start. The trunk will not open. Using the metal key in the lock and pushing it up and turning it does nothing. No one can tell me if there is a Jumpstart location in the hood. I have looked near the strut towers and on the left side nearest the windshield, There's a fuse box on both sides but apparently no Jump Start. There's no brass ground or + sites anywhere. Do the Mercedes engineers just have a sadistic sense of humor? I've torn apart the front passenger floor area and cannot locate a spot there either. My neighbor says pouring gasoline all over the car and lighting it on fire will not solve the problem. He may have a point. Can anyone suggest a possible solution? I am not mechanically savvy.
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Joined: May 2021
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From: Netherlands
CL 600 '00 5.8L V12
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Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 724
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From: UK
W215 CL500 2005
I think you are doing it wrongly. I just went out to my car and tried it your way...push key in and up and turn...this will not open it.
This is how to do it. Put the key in the lock and turn anti clockwise (as you look up at it) and then push in when you have gone through the resistance.
It is difficult to do with your fingers...I hold the key with a pair of pliers.
This is how to do it. Put the key in the lock and turn anti clockwise (as you look up at it) and then push in when you have gone through the resistance.
It is difficult to do with your fingers...I hold the key with a pair of pliers.
Super Member
Joined: May 2021
Posts: 554
Likes: 150
From: Netherlands
CL 600 '00 5.8L V12
I think you are doing it wrongly. I just went out to my car and tried it your way...push key in and up and turn...this will not open it.
This is how to do it. Put the key in the lock and turn anti clockwise (as you look up at it) and then push in when you have gone through the resistance.
It is difficult to do with your fingers...I hold the key with a pair of pliers.
This is how to do it. Put the key in the lock and turn anti clockwise (as you look up at it) and then push in when you have gone through the resistance.
It is difficult to do with your fingers...I hold the key with a pair of pliers.
You should not do it with your fingers. You'll put to much force on the ring that attaches the key-rings of your keys to the metal key and it will break
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 285
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From: Calgary Alberta Canada
2001 Mercedes CL500 2006 E350 4-matic
I think you are doing it wrongly. I just went out to my car and tried it your way...push key in and up and turn...this will not open it.
This is how to do it. Put the key in the lock and turn anti clockwise (as you look up at it) and then push in when you have gone through the resistance.
It is difficult to do with your fingers...I hold the key with a pair of pliers.
This is how to do it. Put the key in the lock and turn anti clockwise (as you look up at it) and then push in when you have gone through the resistance.
It is difficult to do with your fingers...I hold the key with a pair of pliers.
Newbie
Joined: May 2022
Posts: 4
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2005 CL500
2005 CL500 - Solved: Nearly Impossible to Open Trunk w/key
Wow. The manual is useless for my 2001 Mercedes CL600. The battery has drained and the car will not start. The trunk will not open. Using the metal key in the lock and pushing it up and turning it does nothing. No one can tell me if there is a Jumpstart location in the hood. I have looked near the strut towers and on the left side nearest the windshield, There's a fuse box on both sides but apparently no Jump Start. There's no brass ground or + sites anywhere. Do the Mercedes engineers just have a sadistic sense of humor? I've torn apart the front passenger floor area and cannot locate a spot there either. My neighbor says pouring gasoline all over the car and lighting it on fire will not solve the problem. He may have a point. Can anyone suggest a possible solution? I am not mechanically savvy.
Get a wooden shim (or a dulldull screwdriver or butterknife) and insert it under the rear edge of the trunk lid, far enough in that it's tightly wedged, creating upward lift on the trunk lid. Insert the key, I'm pretty sure it's teeth down, turn as far and as hard as you can to the left, push in the button with the key still turned and while holding that poaition, start lifting up on the trunk lid with your other hand.
The trunk lid is a LOT HEAVIER than you expect it to be, especially if you're used to opening it with the tough of a button.
I still dread having to open the trunk with the key but this works for me. I've gone as far as putting a small piece of cardboard over the larch mechanism so it looked shut, but didn't latch (while being worked on). The problem with that is the trunk light stays on & runs the battery dead, and ur back to where u started.. . . unless maybe u remove the bulbs. I wondered why the battery kept going dead in a day or two but didn't think of that until I noticed one of them had burned out. Nothing like creating more problems while trying to solve one
